Twitter, Facebook, Last.FM and Xbox 360 Family Settings

As some of you might be aware, those under the age of 18 are not able to access Twitter, Facebook and Last.fm in our public preview. I want to you let you know that this will remain the case when it launches to the world soon. We made this decision because as it stands now, parents aren’t able to use Family Settings to customize which of these applications their children can access. In order to offer an age-appropriate environment for everyone, we decided to turn off these applications for those Gold members under the age of 18. As expected, this has been a hot topic with the preview users. We want to make sure everyone was aware, however, that the development team is working on an update that gives parents the choice of which social applications their children can access. This means that Xbox LIVE members between the ages of 13 and 17 will be able to use Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm as long as their parents approve. The team hope to roll this out several weeks after launch and I will update you on the exact date as it gets closer.

I can’t remember if it was mentioned or not, but was a date for the actual update mentioned as of yet? The update accidentally installed on both hard drives we use on the xbox in the living room, so I’m pretty sure I can’t use them on the xbox in my bedroom without something messing up. Just wondering when I can look to play in there again!🙂

While I fully understand the need for parental controls, I full must ask this, really? A minor under 18 can currently sign up for a Facebook without an issue so why is it that FB is blocked on Xbox? And Last.fm, that is an internet radio. Are parents really scared Little Johnny (aged 13-17) might hear some offensive songs when he could easily just turn on the radio or turn on the TV and hear the same. Though, this doesn’t affect me at all since I am 19 so I am just going to go now.

Major I think the right thing is being done to avoid an issue with Xbox & Facbook. If there is no parental controls for these programs then underage children should not have access to it. I know and child can sign up fora Facebook account. But with Xbox & Facebook together it might run amock like wildfire and cause problems for minors. Especially since kids will be kids.

At least you’re making an effort to fix your blunders.. Now if we could get rid of the annoying “Do you want to still listening to music since you haven’t touched your controller in an hour of listening to music even though there’s nothing besides changing songs you can really do with the controller while listening to music anyway?” from Last.fm, add a character count in Twitter, and allow Dashboard integration for all three instead of restricting them to semi-useless application, give an actual use for Movie Parties instead of forcing everyone to pay to watch the same file (essentially), just to name a few… we’ll be square.

Now if MS could just get Netflix streaming and last.fm for international customers too. Or, at least, offer an xbox live international price that is lower than the US one to reflect the lack of some features.

Yeah, I would focus more on making these applications work through the dashboard instead of being stand alone apps. It’s rather pointless to open one of these programs and not be able to do anything else.

Facebook and Twitter messaging and friends integrated into the dashboard messaging/friends list would be nice. And of course (stating the complete obvious here) allowing you to listen to Last.FM streams while playing a game.

Until then, these are a nice idea, and the features looks great on paper, but 3 worthless applications for me.

Thanks for adressing this, Major. Being 15 and in the preview program i was shocked, and dissapointed that i couldn’t use it. I can understand facebook and twitter being blocked due to the obvious threats on ther and Microsoft won’t want to be any part of it. But why last.fm is being blockedi cannot understand. I imagine that these three applications are grouped together with the same parental settings.

So, i’m very glad that i’ll be able to use these soon without making a new gamertag that’s over 18 and losing all my gamerscore.

any chance of making these free applications available to silver members? these applications are after all – free. you do know that right? yeah. because you use twitter. and it doesn’t cost you anything. it’s free. but you need to pay a LIVE fee to use them on the xbox? the applications are free to use over the internet… i don’t think i stressed the word ‘free’ enough. they should be free to silver members. free.

Probably a smart decision. Oh, and those who are asking, I believe people ages 13 and under have their friends list and chat blocked, and the only way they can add people is if their parents approve it [on another account or using a code].

I completely agree with the foresight in limiting access until the tools are in the parents hands. While it is easy for someone underage to access these applications on a computer when they are not supervised, many parents might be unaware of the features being added to XBL, so if they have restrictions on computer access or what kinds of music and videos their kids watch, the update had the potential to cause some problems. As for the Silver issue…I am still in the camp that Gold is cheap enough that if you want the features, you need to pay for it. XBL is by no means perfect, but as an owner of a PS3 and 360, I can definitely say that I get what I pay for, and that XBL is far superior. $50 a year or $20 every 3 months…buy one less 20oz soda/ water/ juice a week, and that’s if you pay full price (there are plenty of ways to buy them cheaper).

Again whats with the 13yr requirement. If I want to give my 11 years old son access to facebook, then it should be my decision. I would prefer control over 1 application that my son uses extensively, rather than him trying to circumvent or move to another platform I’m not aware of. I’ve seen this recently with applications like meebo, which does everything through a browser and effectively bypasses my control of what applications are installed.

As a parent I’m sick of someone else telling me what is ok for my children. I have never understood how the same set of ppl can advocate privacy and sanctity of the home in 1 sentence, and then regulate me out of all my rights under the guise of child protection.

Again I repeat, how is it different to allow my child to engage in xbox party mode, but not see his friends facebook posts.

The only policy I hate more than this is EA’s retarded online play policy. Game companies need to get out of my business !!

I’ve said it before… and I’m going to say it again, so pay attention Microsoft.

First off, all of these ‘applications’ such as Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm, etc. should be completely redone to use your WORKING INTERNET CONNECTION and not just your Xbox Live (Gold) and/or Xbox Live itself. For example, when Xbox Live has scheduled or unscheduled maintenance, the console itself should still be able to use your current working internet connection to stream Netflix movies, Last.fm music, and still be able to “tweet” or use Facebook if I so wanted to.

Nothing is more worse than the fact that we already have to pay a XBL Gold subscription fee just to use these products through the system. Yeah, true, I have like three computers in the house and even cell phones with these applications also built in that I can use to check these, but the fact remains, that we should be able to use them with a general connection to the internet. Ok, so you need to have a Gold Subscription… The system itself should already know that you have one, and takes that into account when trying to access these apps.

Netflix is most important to me as I’d rather watch it via my Xbox as I can watch the movies on a bigger screen (my TV as opposed to my laptop screen), so it irks me when XBL goes down, and I can’t stream a Netflix movie, even though my Xbox has an internet connection. If you guys can do/fix this, then I can’t say that I’d have any more complaints about the Xbox Live Service itself.

@Stoned1999: That’s the issue. There’s no way yet for you to give access or deny access, so until they add this functionality in, everyone is denied. It’s a temporary workaround on a family settings issue.

@Quicksilver: You’re wrong. Just because facebook allows users under 18 to sign up for free without restriction does NOT mean that everyone under 18 can use it. Since minors will not be purchasing the internet service and often are not the administrators on their PCs, parents have the ability to setup restrictions on internet use.

Again, this is a temporary issue with interfacing the app with the Parental settings on the console, and giving access to everyone is NOT an option, since plenty of parents would freak out that their internet usage on Facebook and twitter could go completely unmonitored and blame Microsoft.